Sanderstead Community Day is this Saturday21/09/2016 09:32:00......Posted by Tim Pollard

The excitement is building for next week's event on Sanderstead Rec. You can see that latest plans on the managing group's Facebook page.

Back for it's third year, Sanderstead Community Day hopes to bring together and celebrate all that Sanderstead and it's surrounding areas have to offer. There are activities and showcases from local businesses, community groups, and voluntary and charity sectors.

This year hopes to be bigger and better. Priscilla's (the tea room on the Rec) have teamed up with Rotary Club South Croydon to co-host this event to include performances from local groups and even an opportnity to get pets involved. The event begins at 11am and the first performance is from 11.15.

An extremely large and unattractive mast has appeared in Hamsey Green on the grass verge outside the shops. Whilst we understood that the mast would be replaced to give 5G transmission I don't really think it was fully appreciated by residents the impact on the area. These applications are non-referrable so sadly we have little control as councillors over their siting. Many more of these are to be replaced thoughout the borough.

The full application consists of: Installation of a 20 metre multi-operator monopole supporting 12 no antenna apertures, together with the installation of 9 ground-based cabinets, following the removal of the existing 11.7m single-operator monopole and 4 cabinets. at: MBNL Telecomms Streetworks Mast, O/S 338-350 Limpsfield Road, South Croydon, CR2 9BX.

Coupled with this they have now installed some very large bollards which didn't appear on the plan. I have checked with the planning department to see if this is permitted.

The whole place is looking a bit of a disaster zone since last week the burst water main outside the Panahar has led to the verge the other end being dug up and left in a bit of a state.

This is all very disappointing given that we recently had some lovely trees planted on the verge to improve the outlook for the shops. Sadly, it is all looking like a bomb site.

Some residents will remember the little Junior School in Purley Oaks Road - Sanderstead Junior School. Sadly now a block of flats. The children of the school donated a bench for the Millennium which is located in Wettern Tree Garden. It is now in need of a little restoration by means of a coat of varnish to bring the wood back to its natural sheen. The council have agreed to do this along with placing the memorial bench for Joy Gadsby by the hornbeam tree not too far from the monkey puzzle tree planted in her memory. The cost of the bench in memory of Joy is being paid for from the Sanderstead Councillor's community budget. Hopefully both will be ready for our summer to enjoy.

Last year I met with officers as a decision had been taken not to maintain the bank and hedge on the corner of Purley Downs Road and Sanderstead Hill. I was informed that due to Health and Safety they were not able to do any more than cut the grass to waist level at the bottom of the slope. Not surprisingly this year with the weight of the hedge and weeds on top of a bank that is essential comprised of sand it collapsed. I am now waiting, (some two weeks or more) for a decision to be made to clear the soil and grass from the pathway and decide how they are going to make the bank safe without actually undertaking any continued maintenance. I have to say it is a mystery to me how this will be achieved but lets wait and see what happens.

I am pleased to report that the extremely noisy drain cover on the Addington Road just before Sanderstead Plantation will be fixed this week. Residents I am sure will not miss the dreadful din as heavy traffic passes along this route

Unfortunately, the handrail on Sanderstead Hill collapsed and upturned some of the tarmac. I know that many elderly residents rely on the handrail, particularly in the Winter months to avoid falls. I am pleased to say that officers have informed me that it has been replaced. Keep safe everyone.

Many residents rely on the Neighbourhood Recycling Centres to dispose of much of their waste. Particularly those living in flats above the shops without any facilities to dispose of waste other than on the pavement or grass verge.

Unfortunately, the council has taken the decision to close the centre at Hamsey Green along with others without providing an alternative serrvice for the residents. The recycling centres have only just opened and the Purley Oaks Centre has extremely long queues for over an hour and is some miles from the area which isn't helpful, particularly if you haven't got a car,

This is the response I received from the council, not that I have seen fly tipping at the site only a lack of service in emptying the bins and keeping the site clean and tidy.

"Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we made the decision to close the neighbourhood recycling centres as they were being contaminated and residents were not adhering to social distancing. This was a separate decision to closing them when we introduce the flats recycling. The introduction of the scheme is now delayed until we can return to a more business as usual situation. There is currently lots of messaging going to the public and now would not be the time to introduce a new recycling scheme.

We appreciate this is not the best scenario as it does not allow the residents to recycle but it does take the pressure off Veolia to ensure kerbside services are maintained. A decision on reintroducing sites until we can deliver the new recycling scheme is constantly being reviewed and we will let the public know as soon as things change. We removed the all the bins we could so as to discourage fly tipping at the site."

I've had reports that the waste bins on Sanderstead Rec are overflowing so I have put in a request for these to be emptied. I guess in these unusual times some local amenities are going to need attention on a different cycle from normal, so if you do notice anything like this around the ward, please let us know and we will get it sorted.

As residents will know I objected to the application on the site of Red Gables in Beech Avenue. I believe that the application was out of character with the area and would be harmful to the character of the locality and the visual amenity of the surrounding landscape namely The Beeches. I am pleased to see that the application has been refused siting some of the reasons I put forward but also the lack of affordable homes. For now residents can breath a sigh of relief but sadly I am sure another application will be forthcoming. There follows the official wording from the council:

Red Gables, 2 Beech Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 0NL

Reason(s) for Refusal:

1 By reason of its scale, form and design the development would not be of high quality would be harmful to the character of the locality and detrimental to the visual amenity of the surrounding townscape. The development would thereby conflict with Policies SP4.1, SP4.2 and DM10 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018), Policies 7.1, 7.4, and 7.6 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since 2011) and the Croydon Suburban Design Guide (2019).

2 The development would fail to adequately contribute to addressing London's and the borough's need for affordable homes and would therefore be contrary to Policies SP2.4 and SP2.5 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018) and 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13 of the London Plan (consolidated with Alterations since 2011).

3 The application has not demonstrated that the flood risk from the site has

been adequately addressed or provides an adequate scheme of sustainable

drainage. The proposal would fail to meet the requirements of the NPPF and

PPG, Policy 5.13 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since

2011) and Policy SP6.4 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018).

4 Insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that the

development would not result in unacceptable harm to protected species or

habitats. This would be contrary to Policies SP7.4, DM27 and DM28 of the

Croydon Local Plan (2018) and Policy 7.19 of the London Plan (consolidated

with alterations since 2011).

5 The development would result in the loss of or the putting at risk of valued

trees. The loss of these trees would be detrimental to the character of the

area and the proposal is, therefore, contrary to SP7, DM10.8, DM27 and

DM28 of the Croydon Local Plan: Strategic Policies 2013 and 7.4 and 7.21 of

To enable some gas mains replacement works it is necessary to install temporary multi way lights at Limpsfield Road j/w Orchard Road. The works are planned to take place between 4 and 17 May. Should anything change I will post an update.

I guess the good news about the timing is that this sort of road work is less of a problem during lockdown, with so much less trafic on the roads.

Poo bins in Kings Wood30/04/2020 08:40:00.......Posted by Tim Pollard

Under lockdown I have been enjoying the fact that my local walk - strictly the one I am allowed for exercise - is through Kings Wood, where the bluebells this year have been fabulous. Not so lovely has been the sight of the overflowing poo bins in several places, most particularly at the Kingswood Lane end. Having noticed this over the weekend I have brought it to the attention of the appropriate team, so hopefully it will be dealt with soon.

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